Rehabilitating the Old City of Beijing

A Project in the Ju'er Hutong Neighbourhood

Seventy years of revolution and turmoil have had a severe impact onthe miraculous ancient urban form of Beijing, but economic growth sincethe early 1990s has threatened to deal the coup de grace. InRehabilitating the Old City of Beijing, Wu Liangyong presentsan impassioned plea to turn the tide of demolition and offers a newdirection for the planning and development of China's capital.

Wu, a student and colleague of China's first architecturalhistorian, Liang Sicheng, is a champion of the human-scaled developmentand a voice for conservation. But above all, he is an architect, and itis through his own projects, built and unbuilt, that he advocates amore humane vision of the city. Wu's project for the renewal of theJu'er Hutong (Chrysanthemum Lane) neighbourhood in the heart ofBeijing's Old City takes pride of place in this book.

A thoughtful analysis of those aspects of the ancient capital'sfeatures, which the project aims to respect and conserve, is followedby a detailed account of the design and development process of theproject itself. Architectural drawings and photographs of the completedproject, and data on the neighbourhood's resident populationpresent the state of the art in Chinese residential design and planning-- a field that is deeply challenged by reforms sweeping through theentire economy and society of the country.

Urban historians, conservationists, planners, and architecturalscholars and practitioners interested in Chinese cities, or in any ofthe world's great capitals, will want to read this book.

Utilising his thorough knowledge of the unique street pattern, urban water and lake system, characteristic solid enclosure and internal openness of its cityscape, Professor Wu Liangyong has been able to reconstruct skilfully the city’s texture and grain in undertaking the Ju’er Hutong renewal project ... This book provides a fascinating insight into the project’s development and distils key lessons for future conservation and renewal programmes.Zou Deci, Urban Studies, Vol. 37, No. 13, 2618, 2000

Wu Liangyong is a professor at TshinghuaUniversity's School of Architecture and a member of the ChineseAcademy of Science and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Foreword by Peter G. Rowe, Faculty of Design, Harvard University

Preface by Aprodicio A. Laquian, UBC Centre for HumanSettlements

1. The City of Beijing in Historical Perspective

2. Planning and Development in Beijing since 1949

3. Residential Development and the Renewal of Derelict Houses

4. "Organic Renewal" in Historic Cities

5. Traditional Courtyard Houses and a New Prototype

6. Planning and Design of the Ju'er Hutong Project

7. Post-Occupancy Evaluation and Lessons from the Planning andDesign Experience